MyCupOfTea2026

I haven't watched Fox Volant 2022. I keep putting off watching it. I've read the synopsis and seen the trailer of the drama. Looks like my type of wuxia. But I also know that it has romances that might be emotionally draining for me 😆 Will watch it someday for sure. But I can easily believe that it took that long to film the fight scenes. I saw some snippets and they look really good!

I've watched 4 wuxia dramas (including SToTD) produced by Guo Jingyu's team and I really liked all of them. All of them are not draggy, tight plot, well-defined characters, well-designed costumes and props, and, most importantly, well-choreographed fight scenes. This is the second time YXW has worked with them, isn't it?

On a side note, it's interesting that you referred to LLF instead of YXW 😊 When people remember the character instead of the actor, I think that proves that the actor has done the job well.

Central Academy is the best acting school in China? Wow, that's cool. By the way, found this footage on SToTD's weibo showing LLF in tears.
https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4820778949214217?
For some reason they didn't include this scene. I think it shows how good he is as an actor. Hopefully we get to hear his own voice in his future dramas.

Didn't he use his own voice?? I didn't know that. Why? I thought that was his own. It's so convincing. That's a pity.. Did he go to a proper drama school?

Marketing gimmick? :D

If they took out the two female characters of the drama, I wouldn't miss them. But it's nice to see representation in otherwise very male centric drama. I see nothing wrong having them in the drama. Had they been depicted better, they would have been loved as much as the main characters.

She becomes nicer later on but I agree she behaves crazily in the beginning. Her transformation isn't integrated seamlessly.

I agree on the subject of idol actors, a good story needn't them. It needs actors who can do justice. Having said that I'm not saying that all idol actors can't act. But it seems too many dramas have been made to cater to the fans of these actors ignoring the core of a drama which is the storytelling itself. It is unfortunate that the industry seems to underestimate the intelligence of viewers in judging what a good drama should be. This drama has proven that general viewers are actually hungry for a drama made with heart and passion.

I only watch wuxia dramas and am not into lovey dovey romance especially contemporary one so I skip his contemporary romance drama. But I'm sure he did well too there.
If you're interested in his other work, Legend of The Condor Heroes 2017 is highly recommended. He plays a totally different character there.

Actually I like YT. Her mannerism as a martial art heroine is very convincing. It's been a while since I saw a martial art heroine with the right gesture.
I personally don't mind a romance between an older man with a younger woman if it's done well. In Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility, Marianne Dashwood marries a man twice her age. Maria Von Trapp and Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music as well. With YT and SWM, their romantic feelings develop too fast. It looks forced and unnatural. YT appears quite later. I feel that they rushed making her SWM's love interest never expecting the drama would be big. It would have been better if their romance developed in the second season (if they ever make the second season).

PXJ bipolar :)) that's funny. I agree. I'm not sure if it were because of the acting or the directing or the script. But yeah her transformation is kinda abrupt and not natural.

I think he did a wonderful job adapting the novel to the drama. Not many novelists are able to write a screenplay. Even J.K. Rowling didn't do well with Fantastic Beasts. She's probably a good author but not a good screenwriter apparently.

If I'm not mistaken the author of the novel was also the screenwriter of the drama. The main characters are SWM and LLF, the remaining (Chicken Fed, 2 female characters, and the kid) are supporting characters. So I understand that the dynamics is mostly centered around the 2 male leads.
It's true that both female characters are not as appealing as the male. But their presence isn't unpleasant. PXJ is annoying in the beginning but she's young and being crazy in love with someone they have met just once or even haven't met is not unusual. In "Sleepless In Seattle" or "You've Got Mail" are some of the examples this. But I agree that they could have made PXJ less intense. If they could made her as adorable as Meg Ryan, PXJ might have been more captivating. But PXJ character grows as the drama progresses so I think it's a good thing.
As for the second female character, IMO I don't mind her presence. She can do martial arts which is good so that the gang doesn't rely on LLF alone for protection. Her character is b*tchy in the beginning because she doesn't have trust in the crew's intention. But she slowly warms up to them. I don't mind her character. It's natural for martial arts hero or heroine to look fierce as when you train martial arts you train to defend yourself. Because of that, I think, they have slight distrust in people they haven't met before or they don't know well.
Anyway, my tiny complaint with Ying Tao's plot is that they created her as SWM's love interest, which I find unnecessary.

They're passionate about their craft and it shows.

That's dedication right there 👍 I also heard that it took 1 week to shoot the fight scene where LLF uses 3 blades. And LLF fights a lot during the 36 episodes. No wonder.

Really looking forward to this!!

Agree. Making her SWM's love interest was unnecessary. Just having her as an additional member should enough IMO.

You should check out Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty.

YW. It's an ensemble cast as well. It's 2010 drama so pretty old but the fight scenes are stellar, the story is good, the humor is great, the chemistry between leads is great too. All leads can do martial arts. It's one of my all time favorites.

I agree. Without diminishing the other actors (especially Yang Zhigang who did tremendously well) I'd say YXW may have been the hardest working actor on the set. Not only he had to focus on the development of LLF character but also memorizing so many fight choreography in the drama. He was rehearsing the 3 blade fight scene here:
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV13W4y1n7Uf/?spm_id_from=333.337

Looks like they're having a fun time filming on the set 😆 I read somewhere that it took them 7 months to shoot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti1Y95hyXWg